LTS Podcast Ep. 7: Leadership, Mentoring & Baseball

Episode 7: Leadership, Mentoring & Baseball. A Conversation With Dayton Moore

Jonathan Jones: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the newest edition of the Lift the Spirit podcast with DEMDACO. My name is Jonathan Jones. I'm joined by my co host Aaron Heim and today we have a very special guest. Today we have Dayton Moore, formerly with the Kansas City Royals. He was the General Manager and now he is with the Texas Rangers in Dallas.

So welcome Dayton.

Dayton Moore: Jonathan, great to be with you and Aaron.

Jonathan Jones: It's great to have you.

Aaron Heim: Happy to have you. Thanks for coming. Yeah.

Jonathan Jones: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up?

Dayton Moore: Well, you know what? It's, it's, it's a special blessing to, to be here, to be in this community. You know, I've always tried to use baseball as a platform to, to grow leaders and to to lean into the families and teams.

And you know, I was fortunate to to grow up loving the Kansas City Royals and then later to be able to work with them was, was very, very special. But I was born in Wichita, my father. Took a job out of the service with Beachcraft. That's how we got to Wichita. [00:01:00] We were all born there and then we bounced around All good as my father bettered our lives, and but we would always spend two weeks every summer in a little community in south central Kansas by the name of Coldwater which is where my mother was from.

And so that's how I became a great Royals fan because my mother and grandmother loved the game of baseball and loved the Kansas City Royals. And of course the Royals were such an easy team to root for, you know, back in the, you know, the seventies and, and in early eighties because they were the model organization in baseball.

And so you know, I grew up pursuing the game. Wanted to you know, play as long as I could. And you know, my my career was, was cut short and not because of an injury or anything like that. It's just, cause I wasn't good enough to play beyond a certain level, but I was fortunate to play at the collegiate level, signed with a independent pro team, was released out of there and began my, my college coaching career at George Mason University in [00:02:00] Virginia.

I was given an opportunity to coach there and love coaching. Felt that's exactly what I was gifted to do. And as we went through that that process and diving into that profession, I had an opportunity to scout with a couple teams. First with Minnesota, then Seattle. Turned them down because I wanted to just continue to stay in college coaching.

And then the Atlanta Braves called and I originally told them no as well, but

Jonathan Jones: What year was this?

Dayton Moore: That was in 94. 1994. And the Braves were the model organization in baseball and, and they were really at the beginning stages of one of the most historic runs in the history of, of the game of baseball.

You know, the early stages of winning 14 straight division titles. And so I joined the Braves in 94. I was actually just going to do it for three to four years and get back into college coaching. And then one thing led to another. And next thing you know, they asked me to move to Atlanta. Marianne and I with Ashley, who is our oldest daughter[00:03:00] who was eight months at the time to be the Assistant Director of Scouting.

And so we, we decided to do that. And and then. Different doors opened up and got a chance to do a lot of different things in the game. And, and then in 2006 we were provided the opportunity to come here to Kansas City and and be the general manager. And we decided to come here after, you know you know, a lot of prayer and consultation and, and what have you, and glad we did.

Jonathan Jones: When you started scouting and coaching. What are some of the things that you were looking for outside of skill?

Dayton Moore: Well, that's a great question. And, you know, what I've always felt like In leadership, it's as much as about is who you're following, what you're following which I believe creates a pathway for you as a leader.

Leadership, I believe, is caught more than it's taught, and who you're following. And so I've always, faith has been a [00:04:00] big part of my journey. I've always been transparent about that. I think God is the best evaluator of people, without a doubt, and God looks at people's hearts. He doesn't measure the size of your brain.

He doesn't, he measures the size of your heart. And you know, it's really not that difficult to evaluate talent in the game of baseball. You can put players in categories based on skill and tools and athleticism and who runs fast and who jumps high and, and who's stronger and who hits the ball further and, and, and what have you.

I mean, you can evaluate that with, with relatively ease. But it's hard to evaluate the heart. And so that's what we've always looked at. We've always looked at who, who has the ability to sacrifice self? Put others first ? Who's going to, you know, show up early, stay late? Who's going to be the one that's going to do the so called meaningless tasks? Who's going to pour into others? Who can generally [00:05:00] learn to root for somebody else and celebrate somebody else's accomplishments? Who wants to be a teammate?

And and so that's that's, that's what we've always looked at. And those are principles that You know, that I've always tried to follow, but those are the attributes and the characteristics of God.

Jonathan Jones: That's great. I know we'll talk more about that when we get into your mentoring. This may or may not make the podcast, but Aaron knows anytime I say this may or may not make the podcast, there's a chance it's going to make the podcast..

Aaron Heim: We're going to leave with it.

Jonathan Jones: Again, you're our first guest. He has a Wikipedia page and we know everything in Wikipedia is accurate. It says in Wikipedia that you watched the 85 World Series from I 70 or something like that, is that right?

Dayton Moore: We did. Yeah, we did. I was again, as I mentioned, I was a Royals fan. And we, me and my roommate from college, we happened to be driving through Kansas City on that particular day.

And of course it was a day of celebration for the city of Kansas City. And [00:06:00] we were driving by I 70. We said, you know what, let's just stop. Let's see if we can scalp tickets or whatever. And it was kind of a pipe dream to do that. But I think the, the, the least expensive ticket at the time, I think it was like for $170, $175 a ticket, right?

And of course we couldn't afford that. But we noticed that there were several people that were congregating off of I 70. And we decided To, to, to interact with them and they were grilling out and some had battery operated televisions and, and we noticed that we could see everything on the field except Lonnie Smith in left field.

And so we, we watched the game and you know, it was a terrific night for the Kansas City Royals.

First ever world championship in 1985.

Jonathan Jones: For those of you not from Kansas City, what was then Royal Stadium, now Kauffman Stadium, it sits right alongside Interstate 70 and it sits lower.

You can see the field when you drive by. Did the city authorities turn a blind eye to the tailgating??

Dayton Moore: Yeah, I mean, we, of course, you know, there, like I [00:07:00] said, there was several people parked off I 70 and today, there's no way you'd be able to do it.

Jonathan Jones: I was here in Kansas City going to college at the same time, and I didn't make any of the, the World Series games, but I was able to go to the game where we clenched a playoff spot.

Okay. And George Brett put a home run in the right field bullpen. And up to that time, I'd never experienced a stadium go into complete euphoria.

Aaron Heim: One of the things I responded to, to you, as you were talking about how you approach scouting is.

It's really those things you can't teach in people and we talk a lot about it in business and management positions, just people in general. I, I lead from the heart. I look for people who, you know, I would, I would take, gladly take anybody because skills are trainable, right? You can get better at things, but if you don't come in with your heart first and a lot of what you do, you can kind of smell that a mile away on people too.

And I, that kind of resonated with me the way you were [00:08:00] talking about that a little bit.

Dayton Moore: . You know, whatever the highlights of my playing career is going to take five seconds, but it's but you know, the, the one I agree with you, Aaron, I agree with you that leadership is, is a hard thing. Now, you have to be able to make good choices. You need information. You have to have a level of intelligence that is going to allow you to either enter a job or a department or be a part of a team.

But I do believe that the heart is a huge, huge part of it. And I think in today's world, when you make statements like that, get ready for criticism because that is a very difficult thing to articulate and and to quantify and, but, but I agree with you and I, I think that leadership today is needed more than any other time in the history of our country.

In our communities, in our families, and it starts with our families. In fact, show [00:09:00] me the strength of our families, and that is, you can, you know, that's the strength of our teams, our communities, our corporations, our city, our country. You can trace it right back to the strength of the family. But it takes more people willing to step up and lead today than ever before, but fewer and fewer people are wanting to do it.

Because of the harsh nature of criticism and just how people, you know, evaluate others on a day in and day out basis and and criticism does hurt and but you need people to step up. And that's why I think it's so important in a team and a family and an organization that the employees, the players, the teammates , whatever you have to make an advanced decision, you're going to support leaders.

You got to make an advanced decision to do that. Guess what? Your pastor's not perfect. His heart, he's trying to do the right thing. He's not a perfect husband. He's not a perfect father. Make an advanced decision you're going to support him. The teacher who is trying to manage their [00:10:00] family as well and, and, and teach your child and the other 25 or 30 children in the classroom.

Make an advanced decision you're going to support them and give them the benefit of the doubt. Your your boss is going to have to make decisions that are at times unpopular or against the grain or maybe different from your viewpoint. Make an advanced decision that you're going to support them.

Regardless of what side of the issue you were on. And because whatever decision is made, there's no guarantee it's going to work correctly anyway, unless you've got to get a group of people that are behind it 100%. Working hard every single day to fulfill that vision and that mission of what was set out and what you're trying to accomplish.

Aaron Heim: Jonathan and I talk a lot about, we talk about our personal lives a lot and, and I've been going through some personal things with, with that I won't mention on the air. Jonathan knows well enough about it. But one of the things that he says [00:11:00] that he learned as being a parent is you do the best with the information you have at that moment.

And again, it's, it's, it's applicable in life. It's applicable in business. And I think is you're right. The criticism can be hard. And I think the people that I admire most come at it from the heart. They're willing to take the criticism. They're willing to step up and step out and make the hard decisions.

So no, I appreciate you following up on that. I just wanted to let you know that that kind of hit me with what I'm going through is some personal things. So I appreciate the dialogue there. Let's talk about your highlights in playing baseball and then we'll, we'll dive into the highlights on your management side as well.

Dayton Moore: I certainly had my share of successes and failures as a player.

Jonathan Jones: What positions did you play?

Dayton Moore: I was a middle infielder, shortstop, second base, and love to, love to compete love teams. But my most memorable times were the relationships. And it, it's, it's, you know, I, I've been [00:12:00] blessed to be a part of five World Series.

I have five World Series rings and what I remember most about those journeys is the people, you know, it's not necessarily the wins. And the losses. In fact, you learn more from your losses and your failures than you do your, your wins and your victories and your successes. But it's always the people, the teams, the togetherness the wonderful times that, you know, that we spent and the team victories.

It's, it's always. It's always exciting to be, you know, called out individually and, you know, the player of the game where you win an MVP award or, you know, you're the team, you know, you win the team MVP or whatever it is, but that's shallow. You know, the things that stay with you long term are the team victories and the successes that you have together.

And so those are the things I remember the most.[00:13:00]

Jonathan Jones: So can you tell us a little bit just about your time with the Royals through the years and then winning the World Series? And your other World Series were with the braves?

Dayton Moore: Yeah, we won with the Braves in 95 and, you know, we were there in 96 and 99 as well.

Jonathan Jones: And what was your role again with the Braves?

Dayton Moore: Well, I had several roles. I started as an Area Scouting Supervisor. Then I was the Assistant Director of Scouting and Assistant Director of Player Development. And then I was asked to lead the professional and international scouting departments.

Later on, John Scherholtz asked me to oversee all of scouting and all of player development. And then later you know, I was assistant GM in charge of player personnel. And then we came here to Kansas City in June of 2016. So I was really fortunate to be around you know, a lot of great mentors. A lot of people that helped me along the way.

And, and I was able to experience many different aspects of, of Major League Front Office in the different positions, which is [00:14:00] really unique today. I'm thankful that I had a chance to go through all those levels. And so, you know, I learned a great deal.

Jonathan Jones: What was it like coming to the Royals, which was your childhood team?

Describe that experience.

Dayton Moore: Well, you know, it was it was humbling. It was it was scary because you know, baseball was changing a great deal. The economics of the game had changed greatly. Back in 1985, which we had mentioned, the Royals had one of the highest payrolls in baseball. In fact, at times during that run, they had a higher payroll than the New York Yankees.

Really? Yeah, and the economics of baseball had, began to change, you know, in the late nineties. And then by the time we came here to Kansas City, there was certainly a big economic disparity. And you know, the Royals payroll was, you know, in the forties and fifties, millions. And, and the Yankees were, you know, up upwards towards 200 million at the time.

And, and so it was a very, challenging time in the industry, and a lot of people [00:15:00] felt that it was professional suicide for me personally coming to the Royals and and especially when, you know, we had opportunities to stay in Atlanta, and I was a part of the succession plan there when John Scherholtz was planning to step aside. And but you know, we, we, we got to looking at it and we just felt, you know, let's go, let's go try to do something special in a, in a market that nobody thinks you can win.

I really admired David Glass. Got a chance to know him a little bit and spent a lot of time one on one with him leading up to that decision. I loved his heart. I loved his humility. I admired his vision for this baseball team here in Kansas City and for the community. And I found myself rooting for him and wanting to be a part of his vision.

Jonathan Jones: That goes back to what you were saying about making an informed decision ahead of time.

Dayton Moore: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And and so but I, but I can honestly tell you after being [00:16:00] here for two, three months, evaluating all aspects of the organization the talent level, the processes what the what we were gonna have to do to ultimately win.

I felt like we made a bad decision. And you know, the, the fear of, of, you know, just the, the job kind of took place and, and, and what I felt like we needed to do is do everything we can just to create a great environment where people love to work and and pour into people. Give people opportunities. Believe in people, encourage people. And let's just try to create a great environment, one of the best environments in all of baseball.

And so that's what we set out to do. And the culture changed. And, you know, we began on this path where we were acquiring quality talent through the draft. And those players were performing and those players were evolving into championship caliber players. We're fortunate that Zack Greinke won the Cy [00:17:00] Young, which is a whole nother story and that evolution and how he got to that level.

And then we were able to execute a trade to bring Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and Jake Odorizzi here, which put us on a pathway to strengthen the team even further, blend in with the current talent that we had, and and so you know, put us on a, a, a, you know, a path to win. And we're, to this day, we're the only small market in the modern era to go to back to back World Series, let alone win a World Championship, and it's something, you know, we celebrate and we're very proud of.

Jonathan Jones: When you were, during that time, did, did you ever drive by that same spot on I 70?

Dayton Moore: Oh yeah. I still do. And reflect. Yeah, I still do. Yeah, I still do. Yeah. I think about it often. It's just, it speaks to just the blessings that God has in store for us in our lives.

And it just blows you away. And that's the hope for today and the hope for tomorrow, because he's gonna provide us, you know, so many more just great blessings whether [00:18:00] it be you know, relationships or opportunity to, to glorify him. And you know, I'm thankful for that. And that's why I mean, I look at my own life, my own career and, and it's, it's impossible without God.

There's no way. It just blows me away. You know, the, the, the things that he's allowed us to do.

Jonathan Jones: And we're here today really because of a nonprofit . Yeah. You helped start. I'll C You In the Major Leagues. My wife Maria and I have personal friends who are involved in that, that organization and the last two years DEMDACO has contributed financially to some of your events.

Dayton Moore: And we're thankful for that.

Jonathan Jones: Well, we're, we're thankful to be able to, grateful to be able to, to do that. And, and we'll talk more about the, the nonprofit, which is developing mentors. But before we get there, who were some of the mentors that you've had in your life?

Dayton Moore: Well, my mother and father were., you know, I was really blessed to have [00:19:00] parents that I know cared for me deeply and would sacrifice whatever necessary for myself and my brother and sister. You know, I saw how hard they worked and how much they cared. And you know, that was always that's where it begins and ends for me. Of course, I had great coaches and teachers and along the way you know, professionally, people like, you know, John Scherholtz and Paul Snyder and Donnie Williams and, and you know, Jose Martinez and so many other people that are Hall of Fame Hall of Famers in our game.

And You know, when I was first, I think I mentioned earlier, when I was asked to come down to Atlanta and be the assistant director of scouting I, you know, originally said no, probably because I knew that I wasn't qualified to lead in, in that role. I felt like I wasn't qualified. But what, what I didn't know is John Scherholtz knew that he was going to have the right people around me [00:20:00] to be successful.

Aaron Heim: I'm curious real quick. I just want to piggyback before we talk about C You In the Major Leagues. You talked a lot about, you know, our mission is lift the spirit. Talked about that's a big part of your life too. Can you think of a couple moments, memories throughout your career where maybe things weren't going so well and the team came together or some moments that stick in your memory?

Dayton Moore: I look at my own professional journey. You know, there was many a day. That that I, I doubted my ability to perform. Most days I went to bed at night or woke up the next morning not knowing what to do or how to fix things or, or, or, or how to, to improve, whether it be myself personally, the direction of the team, what have you.

And so what I learned was, let's just, let's just give our best every single day. And try to surround yourself with the right people. Put the right things into your mind. Put the right things into your body. [00:21:00] Exercise. Try to get as much sleep as you possibly can. And just be prepared to, to take on the day.

Just be prepared to be present 100 percent in the moment of the day. And by doing that, I think you're, you're preparing yourself to really learn. And you have the energy. and the invitingness, if you will in your life to, to, to, to learn and to grow. But the one thing looking back on my career, we mentioned that I had a chance to do a lot of different things.

So my father always told me, work every job like it's the last one you'll ever have. Okay. And so I always just, whatever job that I was, that I was asked to perform, I just worked at it to be the best I could possibly be, like it was going to be the best last job that I'd ever have. And I'd always just let the needs of the organization kind of guide your path.

Because what I didn't know at the time is people like John Schuerholz and Paul Snyder, who are high level leaders. I mean they're constantly [00:22:00] evaluating their personnel in ways that they can put them in the right spot and, and put them in a role to help lead the organization in an area that they're deficient in, right?

So, John Schuerholz felt like professional scouting and international scouting was lagging, okay? So he went to me and he said, I want you to lead this department. Well, John, I've never like scouted players in the Dominican Republic or I've never traveled.

Jonathan Jones: Had, you traveled internationally up to that point?

Dayton Moore: A little bit, but not much. Right. And so, you know, and so I don't speak Spanish. I don't, you know, I can't do this. You know, I never signed an international player. I got to sit in the home. I mean, who's going to, you know, who's going to help me with all this? And John just said, you know what? You, you will do well, you know, continue to surround yourself with good people, listen to people you know, be humble, you know, people are going to want to work with you and for [00:23:00] you and what have you.

And so when I look back on that by, by just letting the needs of the organization guide your path, you know, doors began to open up. And, you know, that's when looking back on that, I think that was really, really beneficial. Just be present in the moment, focus on what you have to do. Don't try to, don't want anybody else's job, just do the job you have, like it's the last one you'll ever have.

Aaron Heim: When did you begin to realize the importance of having a mentor and how did that obviously influence the path you're on now? Where you're guiding .You're making it your mission to help mentor and guide new talent new new people new individuals .

Dayton Moore: Well, you know dealing with players from the ages of 16 to 25 years old my entire professional life, one of the things I learned and noticed was it was very difficult for them to trust in the experience of others. And you know, I, I recognize that.

And so I began to [00:24:00] realize that in my own life, right? I mean, there's people that have wisdom and experiences have traveled down the road of life further than I have. Different, different, in different ways, different experiences diverse ways that I recognized that you know, I needed to learn from. And I wanted to be the type of leader that either could help provide answers, provide wisdom or knew where to find wisdom and answers.

And so to do that, I needed to try to equip myself the very best I could. And the only way for, for me to do that was to try to seek that counsel and that wisdom from more experienced people. People that have achieved at a higher level. I think it's important to be very transparent in life. You might as well be transparent because you're going to get exposed anyway.

Be vulnerable. This is what I don't know. Know what you don't know. And then try to reach out to those people. [00:25:00] can come alongside of you and, and and help you in, in the ways that you're deficient. And so I've always recognized that's really important because I've always known I'm not the smartest person in the room.

And but I want our team to do well. And and so to do that we need to leverage the, the diversity and the strengths of our group. And I think by reaching out to others and, and finding people that are willing to spend time and mentor you. is really, really important. But, but, but also let me just say this, Aaron, that, you know, I felt like that it's a two way street.

I mean, so when you're around younger people, I mean, I'm learning constantly. I mean, I'm 56 years old as we sit here today. I still think that's young. Yeah, I feel relatively very young, but I've learned so much from you know, teenagers and those players, those 16 to 25 years old that players that I mentioned before.

I mean, I'm learning their [00:26:00] ways. And, and you know, the, the ways that they communicate and the ways that they learn. And, and so I think it's, it's important to kind of have that reverse mentoring as well.

Jonathan Jones: Anyone mentoring you on TikTok dances or anything?

Dayton Moore: No.

Jonathan Jones: Yeah, me either.

Dayton Moore: No, but, but I, I'm aware of, you know, a lot of the, the different ways to communicate today, which I think is fascinating.

Jonathan Jones: So tell us about C You in the Major Leagues. Yeah. What I'm curious about, was there one individual or was it a gradual build where you thought Kansas City needs this?

Dayton Moore: Well, you know, Trey Hillman and I, when Trey Hillman was our manager, we talked about doing a foundation together, which was unique in the game that had, that had never been done.

And you know, two men that were like minded. We'd love we had both had a strong faith walk. Iron sharpening iron as we did life together. And you know, we wanted to do something impactful. And in the youth sports, the youth baseball, you know, [00:27:00] front in, in our community. And of course, Trey, you know, we ended up moving on from Trey.

And, and so Marianne and I talked about, you know, the C In the Major Leagues Foundation. And we actually, it began to gain momentum in 2013. We launched our first ever event at Bob Allen Ford in January of 14 of that year. And we had some key donors step up and. And it provided some opportunity to, to do some things going forward.

And and we just really wanted to give back to our community. And we, we came alongside of families in crisis. We wanted to support faith based organizations and events, course education, and youth sports. And so those were our four pillars. And then, you know, a year or two later, you know, I met Matt Fulks, who I'd known Matt, but Matt, we were looking for someone to lead our foundation in a very strategic way. And we were able to bring on Matt Fulks to be [00:28:00] our executive director of the C You In the Major Leagues Foundation. And you know, we've become very laser focused on, you know, this, our mentoring program, which, you know, we now have I believe is a 17. 18 students now that are in college.

Matt Fulks: Oh, 27. 27, 27. Okay.

Jonathan Jones: And that voice you're hearing is Matt. Yeah. With us today,

Dayton Moore: So we have, we have 18, 18 students for the, the 23 24 calendar year. And as he mentioned, you know, we got 26, 27 that are in college now that we've come alongside of. And it's been It's been special, you know, to watch these young kids grow into adults and become more confident in in their relationships, to be able to stand up and give a presentation.

And it just speaks to the importance of having people believe in you and care for you and encourage you. And, and I've found through the years that that's really the best way to motivate people. And I've been [00:29:00] asked that question my entire professional life. How do you motivate people? And I, I found the, really the, the best way to do that is believing in them, giving them grace.

Make an advanced decision you're going to support them. And you're going to encourage them, and you're going to, you're going to be there with them the, the times in their life when they're doubting the most. And and when they're achieving, give them all the credit. You don't need to take any credit for that. And truthfully, when they're doing well they don't need you as much .As much as certainly they think, and, and but just be there for them and encourage them, and that's what it's, it's taught us.

You know, through the C You the Major Leagues Foundation through our mentoring program. And it's, it's, it's an important aspect of what we do without a doubt. And we're still, you know, we're moving forward with our baseball camps. In fact, Matt Fulks and I met this morning. How we're going to try to expand our, our baseball camps, you know, throughout the city. Because we, I believe and we believe that baseball is perhaps the greatest [00:30:00] platform in the world to grow leaders. Baseball's taught me so much.

Jonathan Jones: Talk more about that. I mean, I know that you're, for people who baseball hasn't been a part, what is it about baseball?

Dayton Moore: Well, I just think it's just such a, there's no immediate gratification in the game. Just because you're a gifted athlete doesn't mean you're going to be successful in baseball.

It takes hours and hours of commitment to develop your skills at a high enough level just to be a high school player, let alone a college player or a minor league player, or a major league player. I mean, it just takes so much time to develop those skills and it requires sacrifice for self. You have to be laser focused on, on those skills that you're trying to develop.

It teaches you to manage failure. I mean, the, the very best hitters in our game fail, you know, seven or seven and a half percent of the time, or seven 70 to 75% of the time. And You know, it's it just requires so much [00:31:00] perseverance. It teaches you to, to deal with setbacks. It teaches you to deal with failure.

It teaches you that you've got to communicate. Baseball is perhaps the most diverse sport in the world. You know, and, you know, you've got to embrace diversity and, and to be successful, you know, in the game. And so it just, it's, it's taught me a great deal.

Jonathan Jones: So I, I knew about C You the Major Leagues before DEMDACO got involved through two of your mentors Andrew Kreling, who's been a mentor for how many years now?

Since day one. Since day one. Five years. Five years. And Andrew just Andrew grew up with a couple of our kids. He's just an outstanding man a father, leader. And then Andrew's father in law, Brett, who I've been friends... with Brett for, well, since Andrew, his daughter, Kramer who's Andrew's wife, was in the fourth grade.

One of the things that Brett told me is that being a mentor in CU in the Major Leagues changed his life. [00:32:00] So, how do you select mentors and kids for the program?

Dayton Moore: Yeah. Well, in fact, Matt and I were meeting this morning. We were talking, continuing to talk about that.

I mean, it's very, it's very strategic. It's scary. You wanna make sure that you have the, the right people mentoring our students. And when you get to a point in your life, and I'm not there yet, and I'm trying really, really hard, and I'm closer today than I was a year ago and five years ago and 10 years ago, you've gotta want the exact same things for other people's children as you want for your own.

God revealed that to me about four years ago. I was on a mission trip in Guatemala and we were going from hut to hut and dirt floor to dirt floor and interacting with the families and just trying to say we care and give them, you know, a bag of food and sit around and just try to get to know them.

And it just revealed to me in my [00:33:00] heart that you got to want the exact same thing for everybody's children as you want for your own. And and so when we select mentors, you know, we've got to make sure that we want, you know, these individuals around our children. And, and we've always had a little bit of that, we've always had part of that in our, in our being and in our spirit because when I'd hire scouts or coaches, whether with the Braves or the Royals, I'd always ask myself, would I want this person around my children?

Would I want this individual around my dinner table at night? If something happened to me and I needed this individual to come alongside of Marianne and our three kids, would I trust them? And I've always looked at things at a very gut level. And and so it's the same spirit in which we, we, we acquired mentors and, and, you know, Matt Fulks is, has been the lead person, you know, with that.

And you know, it's, it's something we do through prayer and but it's a constant challenge for us because that's my worst nightmare. Is us bringing [00:34:00] on somebody that's going to lead one of our students in in a way that would not would not be good. But, you know, we meet weekly.

Matt's, it's a family. It's not perfect, but you know, we look for warning signs. But in many cases, the mentors are people that Matt or people in our group have known for many, many years. And they have a history of doing good things and living their life in an honorable way that we feel comfortable with them leading someone else's children.

Jonathan Jones: You know, it's, it's interesting DEMDACO's mission is to lift the spirit and, and being involved for the last two years in your, your Topgolf event.

And I love the way that you use local Kansas City celebrities to pair up with the students and go around to the different bays. And in our language, Lift the Spirit, you can see [00:35:00] it on the faces of those kids. Where someone's believed in them. Someone is taking the time to invest in them. And just the confidence that they have going, meeting all these new people, who are primarily there to hit golf balls and eat food, but take the time to give them their attention.

Right. It's, it's a way that DEMDACO... We're grateful to be able to partner with organizations like yours because it's helping us live out our mission. That's right. By helping you live out your mission.

Dayton Moore: That's right. You know, I want our mentors and our leaders, and I've always tried to be this as well, just as I said, transparent and vulnerable.

Share your mistakes in life. Share the things you do differently. You know, be vulnerable. You know, that's, that's, that's what we've tried to do. And I think when you, when you do that, I think you're encouraging people. It's okay to make mistakes. You know, we serve a God that gives us multiple chances.

We want mentors that. are, are [00:36:00] going to allow our students to say, you know, it's okay to make mistakes. You're going to make mistakes. And, and, and, you know, it's, we're, we're going to be there for you when you do. And now we don't want you to get, you know, stranded in the ditch somewhere, but it's okay to hit those potholes and, and and let's learn from our mistakes together.

Jonathan Jones: How can people in Kansas City or really whoever's listening to this, I, I noticed that we have one listener in Puerto Rico. How can people get involved? And we can put this in the description like your website and different things and Matt, you're here. So, both of you chime in, lean up a little bit closer.

Matt Fulks: I would say the best way is just go to cyouinthemajorleagues.org and it's the letter C and spell everything else out, cyouinthemajorleagues.org and you can learn more about the C 10 program.

You know, the biggest thing, especially if you're out of town, the biggest thing is financial gifts, you know, because it's we do a lot of special things with the students and the mentors.

Jonathan Jones: Yeah, and I know this is a very lean organization, [00:37:00] staff of one, correct?

Matt Fulks: Yes, and and, and, you know, our, our C10 coordinator as well, who's a contractor so, yeah, it's but that's, we want to grow this thing to where it's more than just one, and so it's, but it's, you know, we have big plans for the next few years with the C10 program, ways to expand it to different different ways here in Kansas City and beyond.

So just go to cyouinthemajorleagues.org. You can find us on social media, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Jonathan Jones: And I'll put all this in the description of the podcast. Aaron, any final questions before we...

Aaron Heim: Thank you. Sorry to put you on the spot.

I played sports in high school. I probably had no business playing sports in high school, but my dad often tells me that when I went out for high school football, and I played all four years, I was a buck thirty five, six two, trying to be an offensive guard, right? He said, when you started playing football, he goes, I saw a switch in your confidence because you were holding your own against [00:38:00] people who were bigger than you, faster than you, stronger than you, all these good things.

And when you talk about sports and in the confidence that helps build that, that struck me too, even though, again, I had no business playing sports, but I think part of the reason why I'm, why I've taken been so chip on, chip on my shoulder is the wrong way to say it, but been so bound and determined to follow my career pursue children's books, which took me nine years to get published.

And it's part of the reason I don't have any brown hair anymore. . It all kind of stems back to the confidence I got, even from some of the coaches, some of my teammates, even my dad telling me that when I was a kid, he goes, we saw like this switch flipping you where your confidence just took off.

And, and I, I firmly believe that that is part of why I get to do what I get to do. And so for the conversation, just about seeing kids who have gone through the program, that has to be incredibly fulfilling and. You know, the beautiful part about it too, is that [00:39:00] they're going to pay that forward to someone else too.

They're going to take those skills every day that they learn with you all. And not even know they're doing it, helping other people along the way. And, and again, you're right. We need more leaders like we had the conversation earlier. People who are willing to do the work and step in and step up and look at somebody who might be down on their luck or having a bad day and saying, are you okay?

Yeah. You doing all right. And so thank you for, thank you both for being here today. And it's, you know, your point about failure. Failure is the best teacher for sure.

Dayton Moore: Well, you know what, you're, you're right. And you know, the, the challenges we face, the circumstances we face, the setbacks we face, they're either gonna make us better or they're gonna make us bitter. And they're gonna make us angry and, you know, they're going to make us lash out as an excuse maker. Or we're the victim or what have you make an advanced decision you're not going to do that. The challenges, the circumstances, the setbacks, it's all for making us better. I mean, I feel like [00:40:00] that I'm just now prepared to be an impactful leader. I feel like I'm just now getting ready to go. And you know, we're doing more and more podcasts. You know, we're getting some really impactful tomorrow.

I'm on a plane and I'm at the speaking engagement in Dallas. And if people want to talk about leadership, people want to talk about you know, our journey and they want you to share things. And so I appreciate you sharing that Aaron because I think that's all of our stories. Don't give up. There's two things I learned as a general manager.

There's two things I learned. You got to forgive every single day because there is some obstacle or somebody saying something, whether it be locally in the media or internally doubting you, second guessing you. Make an advanced decision that you're going to forget that every single day. Do not let that make you bitter.

That's just part of the [00:41:00] leadership. That's just part of what happens. And the second thing is you can't quit. Got to persevere. Can't quit. You got to, you got to continue. And I found that the days that I feel like I want to quit. The days I feel burnout, the days that I feel like there's something else out there that I need to be doing. When I, when I trace it back to why I feel that way, oftentimes it goes to the forgiveness piece.

There's a relationship that I need to fix. There's something I need to give away. That's why my faith has always been so important.

So, I'm thankful to be here, appreciate what you guys are doing and look forward to continue to work with, with you and DEMDACO and the great people that make up this, this outstanding company.

Jonathan Jones: I'm going to use that as a segue to close us off. Again, this is Jonathan Jones and Aaron Heim with DEMDACO, and the Lift the Spirit podcast.

And today our guests are Dayton Moore [00:42:00] and Matt Fulks who are here to talk about the non profit here in Kansas City, the mentoring non profit, C You In the Major Leagues. And we just appreciate your time and what you're doing here in Kansas City and just the effects that it has immediately and then the long term effects with the lives that are being changed.

So thank you for being with us.

Dayton Moore: Thank you.

Aaron Heim: Thank you both.